January 20, 2016

When You Break The Wall, Expect The Flood

"You’re bombing a wall which stood in the way of African migration to
Europe, and in the way of Al Qaeda terrorists. This wall was Libya.
You‘re breaking it. You’re idiots, and you will burn in Hell for
thousands of migrants from Africa and for supporting Al Qaeda. It will
be so. I never lie. And I do not lie now." - Gaddafi.

The New Year’s Eve release of over 3000 new Hillary Clinton emails from the State Department has CNN abuzz
over gossipy text messages, the “who gets to ride with Hillary”
selection process set up by her staff, and how a “cute” Hillary photo
fared on Facebook.

But historians of the 2011 NATO war in Libya will be sure to notice a few of the truly explosive confirmations contained in the new emails:
admissions of rebel war crimes, special ops trainers inside Libya from
nearly the start of protests, Al Qaeda embedded in the U.S. backed
opposition, Western nations jockeying for access to Libyan oil, the
nefarious origins of the absurd Viagra mass rape claim, and concern over
Gaddafi’s gold and silver reserves threatening European currency.

The EU is already running "Operation Sophia" to try and thwart human
traffickers on the Mediterranean and at this stage it is unclear what
else the Libyan government could do to prevent migrants leaving the
coast. "One of my assumptions is that, once there is a unified Libyan
government - if there ever is - one of the first requests from all
European countries will be to upgrade the Sophia mission and allow it to
intervene on the ground in Libya," said Toaldo.

Of course, the EU has always tried to pressure Libya - and indeed any
country on the Mediterranean - into stemming the flow of migrants. Until
now, Libya's solution has been internment camps. Former dictator
Muammar Gadhafi declared illegal immigration a criminal offense - a law
that is still in effect today. "And so migrants who are found without
papers are detained in these detention centers, where major violations
of human rights have been reported," said Toaldo. "And usually these
detention centers are not managed by any government authority, but by
local militias."

Post-Gadhafi, the militias have turned this law into a source of income -
abducting migrants from the streets and releasing them only on payment
of a ransom. As Toaldo explained, those who are released are then more
determined than ever to cross the Mediterranean. "They then have greater
impetus because then that's the only way out they have," he said. "If
they're released because their family has paid the ransom, either they
go to Europe, or they will never be able to pay back the debt the family
has made." They may also become a victim of yet another entrepreneur - a
human trafficker who pays the ransom for them and sends them to Europe
to earn money to pay them back.

"I am afraid that, regardless of what we ask of the Libyan government,
West Africans or Sub-Saharan Africans will still pass through Libya to
cross the Mediterranean," said Toaldo.

A declassified email sent on April 2, 2011 to then Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton reveals the invasion of Libya was launched to prevent
Muammar Gaddafi from establishing a pan-African currency based on
Libya’s gold Dinar.